PS 3537 
.T72 P6 



M8HBH "'■',■': ■. '." ' ' ■' v. '. . 







Wrffii 



Imwm 

iiBffl 






$a; ; 









MSftJWWSK 



' : DBS '■'.'•■ ' •"•■' 



raral 






' 'ffi&iwwft 



■ ■. IT ilTl *- I : ■ . ' * t_ - - * ■ : ■ • i ' 1 ■ ■ flU 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

1 1 111 ii iiiiii mi 



DDDD^aOVTBE 9 



Easa&fc 



HSEffi 



Kill 




<, -?.»• .6* ^5 **7T?» a <v -?.** .0* % ♦TXT*' A <v 'f.?« .6* 










feV 




' • - **a <v & • * • * "*b j.* . i " * ^ 



^0* 



*b^ 









J t * * f V> V/ 



























"""W 












V 

* - K. ft • 



/\ -111 



A**+ 









>°^ 






J> 



• > * AT 









-JlSi'- i ;; 




zv9 



A POEM 
OF THE OLDEN TIME 



Describing a ball at Cambridge, Mass. 
in the year 1840 



Written by 
MISS ANN G. STORROW 



Read by Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson at the 
annual meeting of the Omar Khayyam Club of America, 
Saturday, March 28, 1908, at the Algonquin Club, Boston, 
Mass. The original verses were addressed by the reader's 
aunt to his cousin and Harvard classmate, William Farley 
Storrow, who had just gone back to his Virginia home. 
The dance was given at Mrs. Higginson's house, until 
recently standing in the Radcliffe College grounds. 



T^ 



>&\ 






Copyright 1909, by 
Charles D. Burrage. 



Tn«Ji.3\, v !^ 

53 73 



29 Buckingham St., 

Cambridge, Mass. 

April 17, 1908. 



Dear Mr. Burrage, — 



Thank you heartily for your note and 
proposal for printing those verses of my dear old aunt's. 
I had always thought it likely that the Cambridge Histor- 
ical Society might print them sooner or later but I should 
like your plan much better. I have already got them 
into shape which will cover the omissions, here and there, 
except four lines which can be left out entirely. I will 
also write explanatory notes indicating who the different 
people are, so far as I can, which will make it the more 
interesting. I shall not make the notes conspicuous, but 
so as to enhance the interest to all. 

Cordially yours, 

Thomas Wentworth Higginson. 



Dear Farley-though twenty youn;^ writers will all 
Send posting to you an account of the ball 
Yet you will not object, I am sure, to get mine 
Just to tell you again 'twas prodigiously fine- 
Some time was consumed in arranging the guests 
And the catalogue studied to know which was best 
Of all the distingues whom Cambridge can boast 
And th' upshot of the matter was taking a host. 
So the notes were despatched-Foster, Williams and Law 
And fifty fine beaux whom I never yet saw- 
Brother Griggs, Mr. Gray, and the Devenses both 
John Ware, Mr. Coolidge, and Douglas not loth, 
(Though somewhat too lothely to shine at a ball) 
No matter for that-take one and take all — 
Rufus King, Mr. Aspinwall, graceful Kirk Boott, 
John Holmes and Frank Minot, so stiff and so mute, 
Mr. Peirce, Mr. Felton, and Loverings were here 
And a few other beaux who will shortly appear- 
Our own three divine ones-how rich and how proud 
Were we when we singled them out from the crowd. 
They are beauties, you know, dear, but each in his way 
But more of that matter I'll think not to say. 
Mr. Robinson came, to the pleasure of all, 
For the ladies all thought he embellished the ball. 
Mr. Roubieu was not in the humour to come 
So at least for that evening he tarried at home. 



For the ladies,- Miss Fosters and Rices and Ware 
(Miss Quincys sent answer they could not appear) 
Miss Rogers, Miss Wellses, and Adams and Fay 
Miss Watson, Miss Tread well, and now shall I say 
Who pleased me the most, when they all were so fair 
Twas sweet Mary Devens of beauty most rare 
So graceful and modest, so joyous and bright 
The beauty itself gives me far less delight 
Than the beautiful union of all that could move 
The heart to delight in, the fancy to love- 
Well-that's 'tween ourselves-who came next-let me see 
The Channings from Boston, and Higginsons three, 
Besides Charley and Johnny, and shall I forget 
The sweetest of brides, the lovliest pet 
That ever made sunshine in a showery day 
The fair Mary Greenleaf, as lovely as May- 
Helen Davis was brilliant, and "pleasant as a bird" 
When after long winter its voice may be heard 
And Margaret, arrayed in white muslin, was seen 
As graceful as fairy that trips o'er the green. 
Mary Howe, the magnificent, Mr. McKean 
( I put them together, because they were seen 
In pretty close contact -no matter for that 
They both understand very well 'what is what') 
The morning was glorious in sunshine and smiles 
And dire was the bustle and business the while 



The filling of lamps and the cutting of cake 

And all the nice morsels important to make 

An imposing appearance and tempt all the party 

If they so were inclined, to eat supper quite hearty 

Mary Howe came in early to make Charlotte Russe 

(And really 'twas made without any great fuss) 

And ham from Virginia flourished in dishes- 

And ginger in Canton proved true to the wishes 

Of those who love sweet things, and who does not, pray? 

But oysters, dear oysters, oh what shall I say 

To tell how delightfully Ann had them cooked 

And how finely they tasted -how elegant looked 

And how soon disappeared-that was all very well, 

But many more goodies of which I could tell 

I shall leave to your fancy, and go to the Ball 

Where dancing and merriment ruled each and all. 

'Twas as gay an assembly as ever I saw 

But the soul of mirth was the young Mr. Law; 

He is wild as a bird just let loose from its cage 

But he never was rude in his life, I'll engage. 

His little feet twinkle so witchingly round 

That he seems in the air to dance -not on the ground. 

Thacher danced with Maria- made love by the yard 

And then with Miss Story-and if right I read 

He'll "get up a flirtation" to use his own word 

But the chain's not yet wrought that will bind that fair bird. 



So they danced (Peter fiddled) and supper they ate 

And they danced after that till it grew very late 

And they knew they must go, but they hated the thought 

For, unlike most seekers, they found what they sought 

So Helen and Margaret and Kirk Boott sat down 

To a nice little supper, when all the rest gone 

We talked o'er the evening so pleasant and gay 

And wished for the friend who was then far away 

And surely your name was a thousand times said 

And we thought it a shame that so far you had strayed. 

But your triumph will come when "the Lomax" is here 

And that time will be in the spring of the year 

All else will be forgotten- thrice happy you'll be 

When the fair "leaning Tower" shall bend toward thee 

P. S. One thing, I forget, for my wit's not o'er bright 

To speak of two fair ones who failed us that night 

Alice Crabbe and her cousin, the gentle Miss T- 

Were detained by the illness of boys, one, two, three. 

"Aunt Julia" was sick too, and sorry we were 

To see our gay prospects all melted in air 

But Jemmy, Charles Henry, and Joseph 'gan cry 

And the poor little ladies were forced to "stand by" 

But Sam Todd was here, with his eyes shut so tight 

'Twas whispered he'd watched on the foregoing night! 

So Farewell, my dear Farley, you're tired I fancy 

But long-winded has often been called your Aunt Nancy. 



NOTE. 



The above rhymes were written about the year 1840 by 
my Aunt Miss Ann G. Storrow of Cambridge who had 
largely the care of me in childhood, and who was, through 
her wit and gaiety, always a favorite in Cambridge and 
Boston society through a long life. Her later years were 
spent in Brattleboro, Vermont, where my eldest brother 
was a physician and where she fairly killed herself in old 
age by constant labors and exposure in the care of the 
Vermont soldiers during the civil war. 

The scene of this dancing party which she describes was 
a house which still stands with a large elm tree before it 
and is now included in the grounds of Radcliffe College. 
It fronts on Cambridge Common and was built by my elder 
brother, Dr. Higginson, though it is now known as the 
Vaughn House because of a later occupant. My brother 
havino- removed elsewhere, my mother occupied it during 
all my college life. 

It must be remembered that the dance occurred at a time 
when Mr. Justice Story had built up the Harvard Law 
School to an extent which seemed surprising at that day, 
and when the favorite social leaders among young men in 
Cambridge were the southern law students. Thus the three 
students first named were respectively from Alabama, Lou- 
isiana, and Georgia. Of those which follow, Griggs was 
from Brookline and was then librarian of the Law School ; 
Gray was from Vermont; and the Devenses were both from 
Cambridge, the elder of these being afterward Major Gen- 
eral Charles Devens, for whom statues are erected both in 
Boston and Worcester. Ware was the Rev. John F. W- 



Ware, afterward a clergyman in Baltimore. Coolidge was 
the Rev. Dr. Coolidge, now a resident in Cambridge and 
the oldest living graduate of Harvard. Douglas was from 
Ohio; King was afterwards Chief Justice King of Ohio; 
Aspinwall was long known as one of the leading citizens 
of Brookline; Kirk Boott was then a resident of Cambridge 
and a great social favorite; John Holmes, the younger 
brother of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, was regarded by 
many as the more brilliant man of the two, and a full sketch 
of him will be found in my volume called "Contemporaries." 
Minot was afterward Dr. Francis Minot of Boston, eminent 
as a physician. Peirce, Felton, and Lovering were pro- 
fessors or tutors in college. The "Three divine ones" — 
every large family in the community at least contains as 
many as that — were my two elder brothers Waldo and 
Thacher and myself. Robinson was from Louisiana and 
was considered the most attractive of all the southerners, 
and Roubieu was from the same state. 

The Misses Quincy were the president's daughters and 
the Miss Wellses the daughters of William Wells, a highly 
trained Englishman whose school Lowell and Story and 
myself attended. The Misses Adam were the daughters 
of Professor William Adam, teacher of Oriental literature, 
while Miss Fay was the lady from whom the so-called Fay 
House was afterward bought by Radcliffe College. The 
lovely and beloved maiden, Mary Devens, the younger 
sister of Gen. Devens, was the belle of Cambridge in those 
days. The "Charley and Johnny" were Dr. Charles E. 
Ware, afterwards well known, and John Holmes already 
mentioned. The fair Mary Greenleaf, justly described, was 
the younger sister of Professor Longfellow and spent all 
the later years of her life in the attractive house now op- 
posite the new Radcliffe Library on Brattle Street, and 



used by the musical department. The Misses Helen and 
Margaret Davis were sisters of the elder Admiral Davis, 
the one noted for her delightful singing and the other for 
her graceful dancing. Mary Howe was a daughter of 
Judge Howe, and was distinguished for her striking appear- 
ance. The later verses describe vividly Mr. Law and his 
dancing. My elder brother, Thacher, one of the most 
joyous of men, and drowned at sea a few years after, danced 
with Maria Fay, our next door neighbor, and then with 
Miss Mary Story, daughter of the Judge and afterwards 
the wife of George Ticknor Curtis. 

The three who talked over the evening were the two 
Misses Davis and Kirk Boott. The Lomaxes later men- 
tioned were a Virginia family whose father, Major Lomax, 
was stationed about that time in the Watertown Arsenal 
and had as a visitor a young lady who charmed all Cam- 
bridge and with whom my ardent Virginia cousin, Farley 
Storrow — he to whom the verses were written — had had 
an especial flirtation. Miss Crabbe and Miss Todd were 
members of a large naval family, the latter being one of 
the children of Purser Todd, whose various experiences 
delighted us all for several years and made all schoolboys 
long to be midshipmen. These details will be without 
interest to the reader who has not detected the name of 
some kith or kin among those present at this dance, but 
they may be worth preserving through the possibility that 
some children of the young dancers may take an interest 
in the innocent frolics of those simpler days. 



ioo copies of this work have been printed on hand made 
Holland paper for the Rosemary Press, Needham, Mass. 

2 copies have been reserved for copyright, 26 lettered 
copies for the private use of Col. Thomas Wentworth Hig- 
ginson, 35 copies numbered 1 to 35 for the Omar Khayyam 
Club of America and 37 copies numbered A 1 to A 37 for 
the Rosemary Press for private distribution. 

35 



HI? 891 






^ 






^<* 



"*<? 



W 










*<?* - 




















V Ac^s^o ^*\*^>V 6 o*.-.*o ^\«%V c o* : 




























. »* A 














^^ 



«V ,«"•, 






^.* 4 .-Jfe'- \.S :Mk'- %. 



<-^tf 












• ll" 



> ..-..? J* \W/ \W/ \-W/ \/-W/ ' 

^ f*£i&S ^-^kX *<&&> ^-^kX y ^ 








v^ % 






*w* ft 






»• A 



>°-^ 







r A6* 




»- 'ok 












n* c'-jj:* *o 



.4v v 









kP »I'i- *> V s % £<Li* % aP 









4 V 



°o. 









*U A*' 









1" 



«•> '<..»» A 
o 






v"V 









4* 




\o* *o, '-.W A* 






MAN 

f INC. |e| 

DEC 88 

N. MANCHESTER. 



*£_ a 



:•_ -e 






* • • ° aP <S> • < 

"^ aP »X*^' ^ 

♦♦*" 



.,*" 



. o « . , ^ • • ' A" . t . . . <U .<J> , o • o - ^ 



